Avatar: The Great Conspiracy
by earth-and-water-inc
Summary: Original Fan fiction. takes place 100 years after Aang and the Gang.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - The Drifter

Sweat glistened on her brow as she continued to bend the sand that propelled her through the desert.

'Almost there' she whispered. On the horizon a small town was visible, an oasis in this wasteland. Bending sand was more difficult than bending solid earth, it was loose and shifty, not at all what she was used to.

As the small houses crept closer, memories of her past came to mind. Not much has changed since then, she was still lonely, and she was constantly searching for something more…a sense of accomplishment.

'But I'm happy now…' The question barely escaped her lips. 'Aren't I?' She found her mind wandering back to her former life in Ba Sing Se.

*

Who she was and who she wanted to be were so different that she had given up hope for any change. She dressed for her day in her usual fashion. She slipped into a silk robe and braided her long brown hair. She then stood in front of her mirror.

She saw the face of a girl whose life was spent being watched over, taken care of, the face of a prisoner in her Father's estate. She looked into the blue eyes of a girl who resembled her mother so much that her father couldn't bear to look upon her, for the pain was too much to bear.

Will this torture ever end? How much longer will she have to put up with this? 'Not much longer.' She answered. She tried to muster a smile, but she could do naught but frown.

'Su-Mei!' a distant voice rang out from another room.

'In here!' she called back, there were footsteps in the hallway, than an older woman appeared in her doorway.

'Come along, we've got many applicants to review today.'

'But why Ju-Li, Why do I have to do this? It seems so degrading. Can't i just meet my future husband the normal way? Get to know someone, then slowly fall deeply in love and live happily ever after' Su-Mei gave a weak smile.

'That never happens.' Ju-Li said.

_Yeah, I didn't think so, _Su-Mei thought. Ju-Li walked across the room and stood behind Su-Mei. 'This is what your father wants Su-Mei. He's only interested in what's best for you.' She laid her hand on Su-Mei's shoulder, but Su-Mei pulled away.

' My father doesn't care about me, if he did, he'd let me be free, to live my own life, he'd let me marry whoever I wanted.' She closed her eyes and fought the tears, 'I'll be out in a minute.'

'Yes you will.' She crossed to the door and left.

As Su-Mei stood staring at her mirror she let out a long sigh and quietly a single tear escaped her eye.

*

'Finally,' breathed Su-Mei as she hopped down from her sand scooter, 'Never thought I'd make it.' She started to unload her belongings, just a rucksack filled with some various items and an empty flask. 'Keto, I'm back!'

A man poked his head out of a nearby window. 'Well don't just stand there! Come in!' Su-Mei carried her rucksack into a small shop; a couple of travellers were sitting down at the tables enjoying cool refreshing drinks. 'What'd you find?'

The man at the counter wiped his hands in his apron tied around his waist. His face and head looked to be completely shaven, but if he turned around you'd see the braid that extended two feet down his back. Keto always reminded Su-Mei of a pirate.

She walked up to the counter and opened her rucksack. And pulled out what looked like a scroll. As soon as Keto saw her take it out his eyes lit up.

'This is an old Waterbending scroll, just look at the illustrations, aren't they beautiful?'

'Yeah they're great…should be worth a lot. Keto took the scroll and gently put it down behind the counter.

Su-Mei was about to show him more, but a group of people from the Watertribe came into the shop, ordered drinks and sat at a nearby table.

'Well don't just stand there,' Keto said, 'Bring them their drinks.' Su-Mei grabbed an apron and wrapped it around her waist; she grabbed the tray of drinks and walked over to the table.

'Ok, I've got two litchi; two mango; and an orange banana.' She passed them their drinks, 'Is there anything else I can get you?'

'Have you got anything to sell?' one of them asked.

'Yeah, we've got some stuff, anything in particular you're interested in?'

'Do you have anything from the Watertribe?'

'Actually, we just got a Waterbending scroll, a couple hundred years old, rather expensive.'

'Oh, well we can't really afford something too expensive. You know if you really wanted to sell that scroll, you'd be better off going to the Northern Water Tribe. They've got an archive; they could be interested in something like that.'

'Yeah that would be a good idea.' Su-Mei responded, 'I'll tell my boss, he's the one who sells merchandise.'

'Well,' said a man, 'There's a rumour of an old treasure hidden in the old catacombs, perhaps _you_ could venture out to find it?'

'Me?'

'Yeah, aren't you the one who does all the dirty work? You deserve to go to the Water Tribe too.'

'Uh...I'll talk to Keto about it...' Su-Mei quickly left their table. When she got back to the counter, Keto asked.

'What did they want? Are they going to buy anything?'

'No...but they said it'd probably be better if you went to the Northern Water Tribe to sell that.' Then she added, 'They also mentioned a treasure, but i don't think it's worth it...'

'A treasure? Sounds good, maybe you should come along too.' Keto had his back turned to Su-Mei.

_Go to the Northern Water Tribe? _Su-Mei thought _I don't know...that's pretty far..._

*

'Thank you for coming, but you're not what we're looking for.' Ju-Li's cold voice rang through the stone silence of the room. Another richly dressed man left looking sullen.

'Can I leave?' Su-Mei sat slouched in her chair, looking up at Ju-Li, 'We've been doing this all day, and I'm bored.'

'I know, this will be the last one.' She looked up and called, 'Come in!' to Su-Mei she said, 'Posture Su-Mei posture!'

Begrudgingly she sat up in her chair. From the doorway came a handsome man, except he didn't look like the others, he wore old clothes, and his hair was tangled and tied into a topknot. For the most part he looked clean, but Su-Mei couldn't help but wonder why he had even bothered to come. Ju-Li would send him on his way in a second.

'Hello' said Ju-Li, a slight annoyance in her voice.

'Good afternoon ma'am, miss.' He gave a slight bow to them both. There was silence, Su-Mei had her head bent down, staring at the floor.

'Su-Mei…' Ju-Li bumped her shoulder and Su-Mei jumped suddenly, as if she just realised there was someone in the room.

'Oh, sorry, didn't see you there.' She gave a fake apologetic smile, he returned it. 'So, who are you?'

'Kyo' he replied.

'Uh huh, Kyo, interesting name…' Su-Mei stood from her chair, and walked gently towards him, lulling him into a false sense of security. _I'm going to mess with this guy_ she thought. Slowly she started to circle him like a hungry vulture hawk. 'So you're interested in marrying me?'

'Sure' he replied. Su-Mei raised her eyebrow.

'So if I was taken capture by a hundred men and they ransomed me off for a million gold pieces, what would you do?'

'Oh, well a good husband would do all in his power to…'

'I don't think I asked you what a good husband would do,' she interrupted, 'I asked what you would do…'

'Well, _I_ wouldn't care about the money; I'd fight through every one of those men till I got you back I suppose.'

'Hmm,' _that didn't work…I'll try something else…_ 'If I grow old and develop a wart on my nose and get an embarrassing rash, would you stay with me?

'Of course, would you stay with me?' his mouth curled into a cunning smile.

'I…I'm asking the questions!'

'Fair enough, so what your next riveting question?'

Su-Mei smirked, 'Ok' she said, 'what's brown in the winter green in the summer and smells like cheese?'

'Um…uh…' Kyo hesitated.

'EHHHH! Times up!'

'What? You didn't say I had a time limit!'

'It was implied!'

'Su-Mei, what do these questions have to do with anything?' Ju-Li cut in.

'Loads!' Su-Mei gave her a sarcastic smile.

'Ok I think we're done here…'

'No wait, one more question…' she turned to Kyo, 'Why did you bother coming here? I mean, no offense, but you don't look the part of a suitor, you didn't even comb your hair…'

'My parents made me come. They think I should settle down, since I'm 20 now. They said I should hurry up before all the good ones are gone.' He paused, 'I did this so I could tell them I at least tried. Then I can go back to living my life, and waiting to for the right person to come along. None of this arranged marriage thing.' He looked at Su-Mei who was giving him a very confused expression. 'I'll let myself out.' He turned towards the door.

'OH NO YOU DON'T!' Su-Mei yelled at him, 'You're staying here!' Kyo wheeled around. 'Ju-Li, I want Kyo to be my suitor.'

'WHAT?' exclaimed Kyo, 'but i don't want to be!' Su-Mei turned towards Kyo and glared at him.

'Su-Mei…this boy's not a good suitor for you; you need someone who'll be able to provide for you.'

'Hey!' said Kyo, 'I may not be rich, but I could still provide for her!'

'Yeah' agreed Su-Mei. 'The one guy who's not completely stuck up and you shove him out the door?'

'Fine, it's not my choice anyway, if you wish to settle for some bottom feeder, then be my guest.' Ju-Li stood abruptly from her chair and left the room.

'Bottom feeder, honestly…' Kyo muttered, 'look Su-Mei, I'm flattered that you picked me but i really don't want to…'

'Yeah I know' she interrupted, 'that's why i picked you., you don't want me and i don't want to you…could you just pretend to court me for a couple of weeks?'

'Why would I do that?'

'Because I'm planning to get out of here, but I can't leave this place without an escort.'

'What's in it for me?'

'Gold, a lot of it, only when I'm free though.'

'I suppose that'll do…'

'Thanks Kyo.' She held out her hand to him, he shook it.

*

A cart pulled by a single ostrich horse rolled over the hillside. The two travellers bounced and rocked, one of them spoke up. 'I don't know why you insisted that I come to the Northern Water Tribe too…'

'Well you said there was some kind of treasure right…could be worth looking into…' Keto said, 'you could go looking for it when I try to sell that scroll.'

'I can't believe I'm actually going to the Water Tribe…its cold there right? How are we going to stay warm?'

'We'll buy some coats at the boat dock, and maybe some longer pants…and shoes for you.'

'Shoes? Do i have to wear shoes? My feet will feel all constricted…'

'Unless you want feet - sickles, you'll wear shoes.' Keto checked his map, 'The dock should be just around this corner.'

They turned and Su-Mei saw the biggest body of water she'd ever laid her eyes on. Floating by the dock were a couple of trader boats, ready to set sail.

'Which boat are we on?' Su-Mei asked.

'The boat on the far right'

Su-Mei looked past all of the big trading vessels and her eyes met the smallest boat there. Fit for only a handful of people and some cargo, _good old, cheap, Keto _Su-Mei thought.

The cart stopped, they both got out. They went into a small shop and bought two grren coats with koala sheep fur for trim, gloves, pants, and boots. Su-Mei picked out a hat that she fell in love with, Keto payed.

'Oh, Keto it's so beautiful, thanks.'

'Don't thank me; it's coming out of your pay.'

They went down to board the boat. All the people were Earth kingdom, traders Su-Mei expected, going to the Water Tribe to sell their goods.

At this point Su-Mei began to hesitate, she'd never been outside the Earth Kingdom before. She stopped halfway up the plank.

'Keto, I don't think I can do this…'

'I know you're scared, but come on, we have to go.' He took her by the arm and pulled her onto the boat. They pulled off. Su-Mei felt sick already, but it wasn't the rocking of the boat that was upsetting her stomach, it was homesickness. Not for Be Sing Se, but for the boy that she left behind…

*

'Su-Mei! Kyo's here!' Ju-Li called from another room.

'I'll be out in a minute.' She quickly grabbed the pants from her Earthbending uniform and stuffed it inside her bag along with a sack of gold pieces. She hurried out into the hall.

'You look so beautiful.' Kyo said as soon as he saw her. He stared at her, his eyes sparkled. 'Shall we be off?'

'Yes' she responded, trying to keep calm. She walked to him and linked arms with him.

'We won't be out late' Kyo assured Ju-Li

'See you later' Su-Mei waved, and before she left, she thought she saw Ju-Li smile.

Finally after courting Kyo for a couple of weeks she's allowed to go outside the house with him. They walked out of the gate and stepped into the world. Su-Mei had never once been outside the walls of her Father's estate. Ba Sing Se looked so magnificent; the perfectly chiselled houses each with a bright green roof. Each person she saw smiled at her, _how lucky they are_, she thought, _to see this every day._

She was brought back to earth by the sound of Kyo's voice.

'Where would you like to go?'

'Oh…' she paused, 'how about the zoo? I've heard it's lovely.'

He nodded and they turned toward the outer city.

'You know the plan right?' Kyo whispered.

'Of course I know that plan, I haven't stopped thinking about the plan, it's my plan…' She whispered back. When they arrived at the zoo, they didn't enter, but they walked past the zoo, to the outskirts of the city, where the great wall used to be. Once they were out of sight Su-Mei made a tent out of the earth. Inside she put on her pants that cut off at her knees, and ripped her dress at her thigh so it looked like a tunic.

'I'm so glad to be out of those clothes.' She said when the rock tent was gone. She stomped her foot on the ground and a hole appeared there. She dropped her clothes in and covered it back up.

'So, what do you plan to do now that you're free?' Kyo asked.

'Probably explore the world; maybe even find buried treasure…'

'You mean like a pirate?' Kyo shifted his eyebrows

'No,' Su-Mei gave a small chuckle, 'like a drifter…going from place to place, no rules, no one telling me what to do…'

'Well, maybe when you're around, you could drift on over my way… I'd love to see you again…' Kyo shuffled his feet and bit his lip.

'I'd love to' Su-Mei smiled, She blushed. _What's wrong with you? Why are you blushing you crazy girl!? _She shook it off, 'I should go now…' She reached into her bag, 'Here,' she held out the bag of gold pieces, 'For your services.' She held it out to him, but he shook his head.

'I can't take your money, not anymore…'

'Kyo, if you don't take it then it'll stay here for some traveller to find.' She took all but two fingers off the bag.

'Fine, I'll take it…' He held out his hand and the bag fell into it. 'Kohama's my hometown, its north of Ba Sing Se.'

'Ok, well I'm going west, I guess this is where we part…thanks' She held out her hand, he shook it, but before Su-Mei could take her hand away Kyo pulled her into his arms. She felt his arms tighten around her. He held her so gently, so lovingly. Su-Mei's eyes opened wide with surprise, but, then they closed, taking in his scent, trying not to forget it. Her arms closed around him, and they stood there for what felt like an eternity. She didn't want to let go. She buried her face into his chest trying not to cry. She felt his hand caress her hair. She could feel his breath on her neck, so steady, each breath matching his heartbeat perfectly.

He pulled her an arm's length away from and looked into her eyes, his emerald ones meeting her blue. His hand was now resting on her cheek. 'I'm going to miss you Su.' He bent his head down and kissed her cheek, even after he pulled away she could still feel a tingling sensation where his lips had been.

'I'm going to miss you too.' She looked at the ground. 'I should be off…'

'Yeah me too, goodbye.' He gave her a wink and turned towards his city.

'Bye…'

Su-Mei turned her back on him, smiling. She looked at her home one last time…the only one she'd ever known. She then hesitated, would she be able to do this? Live on her own? 'I can do this' She whispered, turned her back on the great impenetrable city, put on foot in front of the other, and began her journey.

*

The rocking of the boat and the constant swirling of the waves made Su-Mei sick. She longed for stable ground, even if it was snow. She's seen nothing but water for 3 whole days. Finally she heard someone cry 'There it is!'

She looked up, before her eyes lay a wall of white. At first she thought that the Northern Water Tribe was nothing but snow. But as they moved closer she noticed that on top of the wall there were people, waterbenders. They were so graceful when they moved. With swift hands they made a hole in the wall, so the boat could go on in. On the other side they found themselves facing walls of snow. Suddenly the water level began to rise and the wall in front of then began to fall. As it opened up they saw the Water tribe. Su-Mei was right, it was only snow...but everything was made of snow: houses, bridges, and stairs. Su-Mei could tell she wasn't going to like this one bit.

The boat came to a stop, Su-Mei got off as soon as the plank was down. 'It's so cold here.' She saw her breath hover in the air for a moment then vanish. They took their bags and headed down a street.

'Let's stop at an inn. Hopefully we won't have to be here longer than a few days. When do you plan on going to find that treasure?'

'Well, as soon as I can, tomorrow maybe…'

'Well if you're planning on leaving tomorrow, you might need to find out more about these catacombs.'

'You're right.' She said, 'But where could I go?'

The End

(Chapter 1)


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – The Waterbender

The sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows along the glistening snow. Outside the gate to the Watertribe, floating on the ice flows were two people. They stood a distance apart, watching each other, barely breathing. The young woman watched the man, an unwelcomed guest. She stared with loathing, and determination. He was the first to strike.

His hands flew from his sides in a sweeping motion, sending a huge wave towards her. She was quick to react; turning to her left she faced the wave, and, with a cold breath, froze the wave where it stood. Then before he could send something else at her, she gathered some water from the ocean below her and brought it above her head, faster than the eye could see the water turned into ice daggers, and then she sent the jagged pieces soaring at him.

He held his hand up, and liquefied the daggers, sweeping the water around his back; he shot it back to her. She used her flat hand to cut through the water.

She leapt from the ice block, into the water, freezing it beneath her feet, and skated across the water at him, sending random water attacks, which he blocked.

As she neared, he used a long strand of water and wrapped it around her leg, making it tighten, he pulled it back. The girl flew ahead, and landed in the frigid water.

Emerged in the dark liquid, she opened her eyes. She could not see the ocean floor, but that didn't matter, she was at home in the water, she was in her element, how she longed to be able to breathe water, then she'd never have to resurface. Her lungs protested, telling her to breathe. If she let air out, He'd know where she was. She resisted.

She propelled herself through the water, moving away from her opponent. When she felt she was far enough, she sprang out of the water, rising swiftly. Water still covering her body, she emerged into the air. He had his back to her, looking into the deep. She stood on the water, her face the only thing exposed. She lifted her arms, which were coated in the clear liquid. And sent them flying out to him, wrapping themselves around his frame, and lifting him into the air.

"Ahh!" he screamed. "Nakuya! I surrender, you win!" That was all she needed to hear. She let him down onto one of the ice flows. She walked over to him, and the water fell from her frame.

She looked at him, waiting. He bowed to her, she bowed back. "You are my best student. You learn quickly." He smiled at her, his faced lined with age.

"Master Tunuk," She said, "That's only because you're the best teacher."

He let out a soft laugh, "You've learned so much in your years in my academy. You were always the most advanced student. You've learnt everything much quicker than your classmates." His smile faded, "That's why I have to tell you...that this was your final examination. I cannot teach you anymore, I've taught you all that I know."

Nakuya was confused, _this sounds like good news...why does he sound so down when he says it?_ She thought.

"You're a master waterbender Nakuya." His face was proud, but his eyes were sad. "I cannot teach you any longer."

"I'm done?" Nakuya couldn't believe it, she knew she'd graduate, but she never thought it would happen so soon.

"Yes, you're done learning waterbending..." Master Tunuk couldn't look Nakuya in the eye. "And the law states...that you can't teach..."

Nakuya felt something inside of her, like someone was stabbing her deep within. She fell to her knees and stared at the snow. She'd almost forgotten the law.

Tunuk knelt beside her. "Nakuya, if it were up to me...I would let you teach, but the council is hard to move. People couldn't believe it when they let women learn waterbending a hundred years ago. A young woman changed their minds back then, maybe there's still hope."

She looked at him. His eyes were sad, compassion was held in them. Master Tunuk had been one of her real friends, someone who really knew what it was like to live for waterbending.

"If you don't mind...I think I'm going to sit here for a few minutes."

"Yeah, sure..." He stood up, "Please don't give up..." He froze an ice path on the water and walked across it.

Nakuya sat on the ice flow, watching the sun disappear beyond the curve of the earth, and plunge the Northern Watertribe into darkness. The moon now hung over her, only a half moon. The new moon would be coming soon. Nakuya closed her eyes and tried to take as much of the moon in as possible. The moon was her lifeline. Without the moon, she would be powerless and weak.

When the moon's eye is closed, waterbenders found it hard to function properly. Those who are middle aged aren't affected as much. But the elderly and the young became unable to move, because they were weaker. _Poor Hana_ she thought. "Hana!" she bolted upright, "I forgot about practice with Hana!"

Nakuya sprang to her feet and ran as fast as she could back to the town. She arrived at the academy as soon as a little girl was leaving. Her dark skin complemented her hair nicely, which was a rich dark brown and tied into a bun with a single braid extending from ear to ear.

"Nakuya, you're late!" She looked up at Nakuya, "They're closed now...how can we practice?"

"I'm so sorry Hana, come with me, we'll go somewhere else and practice." Hana nodded and followed Nakuya.

"So, you're not allowed to take waterbending lessons anymore?" Hana and Nakuya were under one of the bridges, a stream of water flowing back and forth between them.

"No...And because of their stupid laws they won't let me be a teacher." As she said the words a lump arose on her throat, she swallowed it back down. Trying her best to ignore the pain she said, "You're really improving; your teacher must be very good."

"Not as good as you." Hana smiled up at her, and blew her bangs out of her eyes.

Nakuya laughed, "Hana, you need a haircut."

"I need a haircut? Look at your hair! It's a poofy mess!" Hana teased.

"My hair is not poofy! It just has a mind of its own..." Nakuya froze the water that they were passing, and made a mirror. She looked at her hair. Her dark curly hair was half pulled into a bun; the rest fell past her shoulders. "It's not poofy...right now it's very manageable." She looked at Hana, and they both laughed. She loved being with Hana, she made Nakuya fell like a kid again.

A faint voice rang out in the distance, "Hana!"

"That's mom...oops I forgot to tell her where I was going. She's going to flip!" Hana picked up her bag, "When will I see you again?"

"I don't know, I'll see you around..." Nakuya gave her a hug, and she left, running towards the sound of her mother's frantic cries. "I'm coming!" She heard her call.

"I might as well get home too..." Nakuya started walking in the opposite direction, towards her home. As she walked the shimmering streets, she started to think of what she would do now that she was done class. _Mom will most likely make me get a job..._ Nakuya shuddered at the thought. Her mother was old fashioned; she thought that a woman should be supporting a family, not wasting her time waterbending. Her mother didn't understand, none of her family had been benders, and she was shocked to find out her only daughter was. Nakuya's parents were supportive of her waterbending lessons, but she never would've been in them if it wasn't for her father, He wasn't a bender, but he understood her passion for it.

She reached the front door of her house. She took a deep breath and opened it, ready for the argument she knew was waiting on the other side.

She looked in to see her parents sitting on the floor, eating supper.

"Nakuya, you're home." Her father smiled at her, "How was waterbending class today?"

"It was good...until..." The words stuck in her throat. She sat down by him. "I'm not allowed to go to class again..."

"Oh sugar," His hand grasped hers, "This must be hard for you. How are you doing?"

She avoided his eyes. "I've been better."

"Well it's about time." Her mother said. Nakuya glared at her. "Now you can start doing something worthwhile, like, oh I don't know...getting married...or something..."

"Mom..." Nakuya was annoyed. "We've had this discussion; I don't want to get married yet."

"Why not? All of your friends have betrothal necklaces. They're very happy."

"They're also brainless." Nakuya said under her breath.

"What was that?" Her mother injected.

"Nothing...Mom, we've had this discussion a million times. It's stupid for me to get married now...I don't see the point."

"But if you don't hurry, all of the good ones will be taken. You're 18, 2 years past the marrying age. You're gold, if you wait another 2 years, you'll be silver...Who will want you then?" Her mother poured something green into a bowl and passed it to her. "Plus, now that you've stopped Waterbending, the men will be all over you. You know that women who waterbend is a turn off."

"It's not a turn off Mom! Guys are just afraid of a strong, independent woman. This whole place is about disempowering women." Nakuya raged, "Someone's got to stand up to them."

"They still won't marry you if you waterbend."

"Anana..." Her father said, "Drop it; you've been going on about this forever."

"I'm not going to drop it." Anana said, but she stopped talking anyway. The quiet was bliss to Nakuya, who wanted nothing more than to just sleep. She looked into her bowl, amid the green liquid floated round black chunks. Nakuya laid the bowl down.

"Not hungry sweetheart?" Her father asked, "It's not as bad as it looks."

"I think I'm just going to go to bed..." She stood up, "Goodnight." She looked at her mother, who was concentrating very hard on her fingernails, and didn't say anything.

"Goodnight." Her Father said then kissed her forehead.

Nakuya left the room and walked up a set of stairs on the far wall. She stopped at the first landing, and walked into her bedroom. The moonlight was shining onto her bed from the window. She fell immediately onto the pelts that covered it. She stared out into the darkness; the moon was the only thing that was visible from where she lay. As she lay there looking up at her power source, she was overcome with grief. No more waterbending...She felt the lump in her throat rise, and the sting of tears was unbearable. She couldn't hold it in any longer. She let the tears flow. They ran down her cheek and dripped off the bridge of her nose. Nakuya never cries, she's not a very emotional person. She usually holds it in, never feeling the need to cry. Nakuya couldn't find a reason for crying, what's the logic behind that? It's so illogical, you shouldn't waste time crying, it doesn't solve anything. But somehow, she just couldn't stop them from flowing.

Her eyes grew heavy, and she drifted to sleep.

When Nakuya awoke the next morning, the pain was still there, but the tears had stopped. She went downstairs to an empty house. The quiet didn't last long. As soon as Nakuya sat down her mother burst through the door.

"Oh good, you're awake." Anana had a bag in her hand and a smile on her face. She wore her work uniform, a silly floor length dress with an absolutely ridiculous hat that Nakuya would rather pull out her eyeballs than wear. "I've got great news!" Anana was about to burst, "I know that you were mad at me yesterday and upset that you can't waterbend anymore, so..." She paused, "I got you a job! With me! At the archives!" Anana opened the bag and pulled out the exact same outfit that she was wearing. "This is yours, try it on!"

Nakuya was paralyzed with terror. _No...no...no..._she thought, her mouth hung open.

"Nakuya...don't stare at me like that. Do you know how hard it was to convince my boss to hire you?" Anana thought she was doing Nakuya a favour. "Nakuya, please." Her mother's lower lip started to quiver. Nakuya knew she'd have to do it, after all this was her mother's way of apologising, no matter how bad it was.

Nakuya took the outfit from her mother and put it on. Unfortunately it was a perfect fit. Tripping over the end of the dress, she went back downstairs.

"You're not going to put the hat on? They were my idea..." Anana frowned.

_Figured..._Reluctantly, Nakuya placed the hat on her head. The tassels fell down and tickled her chin.

"There! You look like an archivist!" Anana said proudly. "Now, come on, let's go, they're waiting." _Of course they are _Thought Nakuya.

The Archives building was huge, there were shelf after shelf of books and scrolls containing information about the Watertribe.

When they arrived, Nakuya met the other workers, and was then assigned a job. Stay at the counter, and if anyone needs help, help them. There was only one thing wrong about this...there was no one there.

Nakuya stood by the desk for a couple hours without seeing a soul come in the doors. Finally, when she looked away for a second the doors opened and a tall slender youth came in. He had dark skin and a cocky smile that made Nakuya sick. It was Situ, a boy from her class. He walked over to her desk, and said, "Hey there Nakuya, you're looking beautiful as ever." He leaned on the desk.

"Situ, how nice to see you." She lied, and flashed him a mocking smile.

"I know." He said, Nakuya repressed a laugh. "I haven't seen you since I graduated."

"yeah, it's been a while, I see you decided to grow a beard." She pointed to his goatee.

"Thought it would look more dashing, what do you think?"

"It...sure is something." She backed away from him slowly and walked towards one of the shelves. Pretending she had something to do, and hoping he would take the hint. He didn't.

"So, you're working at the archives? Do you like it here?" He asked, closing in.

"No I do not." She picked up a book, and held it in front of her, as a barrier.

"That's too bad, but you know what? I bet I can brighten your day." Situ put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a necklace. A betrothal necklace. "What do you say Nakuya?"

"No." Said Nakuya without thinking, Situ's face dropped.

"What?"

"I said no...um...I don't want to get married?"

"But...it's me..."

"I know...please, I...I think you should leave." Nakuya started to walk away, Situ grabbed her arm, she turned to face him. His eyes looked furious.

"I don't think so." He tightened his grip, Nakuya thought fast, using her other hand she sent water flying towards him, and hit him in the face. She pulled away from him as he spluttered. Then she used the water whip, hitting him in the butt as he ran through the doors.

Nakuya laughed, and turned around. Her mother was standing there, Nakuya immediately stopped. Anana looked at Nakuya as if she would explode. She did.

"Nakuya! How could you do that?!" Nakuya opened her mouth, but Anana cut her off. "I know that you don't want to marry him, but why did you torture the poor boy? Hitting him with water? Embarrassing him? That's not how you were raised!"

"But mom, he wouldn't let me go..."

"He likes you. Of course he's not going to let you go. You should've called out or something." She paused. "No one's going to marry you now." She turned and walked away.

"Good." Nakuya said. Her mother ignored her.

After a couple days Nakuya grew accustomed to the silence and the lack of people visiting the archives. She sat at her desk, reading about a spirit animal guide that lives out in the wastelands. It's completely white with a black ring around its neck that looks like a half moon. It's called a Moon bear. Except no one's actually seen one when they're sober or awake. _Useless information. _Nakuya thought, and threw the file on the desk.

The doors opened and a young girl walked in, her hair was in long braids. "Nakuya!" he exclaimed, her shrill voice shattered the silence.

"Tikanni." Nakuya tried to sound excited too. "What a surprise I didn't expect to see you."

"I know right!" Tikanni bounced over to the desk where Nakuya sat. She looked around. "What a drag," she said. "This place is like a tomb. It's so boring." Before Nakuya could say anything Tikanni blurted out, "Guess what happened!"

"Um..." Nakuya said.

"I got betrothed!"Tikanni lowered her collar and showed her the necklace.

"Wow, that is so...cool! To who?" Nakuya tried to sound as interested as possible.

"Situ" She giggled.

"Really?" Nakuya's eyes widened with surprise.

"Yeah, he asked me yesterday. Listen, don't feel too bad ok?" She looked very serious. "I heard what happened."

Nakuya rolled her eyes, "oh, yeah that."

"I know you liked him and everything, I mean who doesn't, but that doesn't mean you have to beg..."

"What?"

"Situ told me that you practically begged him to marry you. And that he refused, but you wouldn't let up." Tikanni smiled again, "Told you that it was me he loved, and that you'd have to find someone else. Please don't be jealous, I really do love him, and he loves me!"

"I don't know what I was thinking; you two totally deserve each other." Nakuya smiled. Then the door opened and another young girl entered, but she wasn't from the Watertribe, she wore a green coat. "Will you excuse me for a minute Tikanni; I have to help this person." Nakuya happy to be free of Tikanni ran over to the girl.

"Hello, can I help you?" Her voice was pleading.

"Actually, yeah, if you could that would be nice. I'm looking for maps. And information on the Wastelands."

"Over here." Nakuya led her to a corner of the archives. "These are maps...and this." She pointed to a book. "Is all the information on the wastelands that we've gathered."

"Thanks." The girl picked out one of the maps and unrolled it. She laid it on a table. Looking back up, she saw Nakuya standing over her, smiling awkwardly.

"Is there anything else I can help you with? Nakuya asked.

"Nope, I think I'm good." She looked at the map again. Nakuya never moved."Can I help _you_?" the girl asked.

"No, I'm good. Thanks." Nakuya sat down at the table and glanced at the map.

"So...Why exactly are you still here...watching me read my map...bothering me?"

"I'm avoiding the girl at the counter." They both looked over; Tikanni had sat in Nakuya's chair, and was singing while playing with her necklace.

"I understand, you have my permission to stay." They both laughed, "My name's Su-Mei."

"I'm Nakuya. Are you from the Earth Kingdom?"

"What tipped you off, the fact that I'm in the archives, the fact that I'm wearing green, or the fact that I have 'NOT FROM HERE' tattooed on my face?"

Nakuya wasn't sure if she was bring serious, or trying to be funny. She laughed just in case. "Are you an Earthbender?" She asked.

"Yeah I am..."

"That is so cool!" Nakuya was fascinated, "I've never been this close to an actual Earthbender before."

"And I've never been so close to someone so crazy before." Su-Mei paused, "Wait...yes I have, never mind."

Nakuya laughed, yet again. "So, where in the Earth Kingdom do you live?"

Su-Mei was silent, she was looking at the map very intently, Nakuya looked at her, waiting for a response, Su-Mei looked up at her. "I move a lot. But I've been living in the desert for a while now." She paused and added. "Me and my family."

"Is your family here with you?" Nakuya asked.

"Only...my brother, Keto, we're on a little vacation."

"Then why are you here? I mean usually when people go sight-seeing they see the sights...they don't curl up libraries..."

"Who said I was sight-seeing?" Su-Mei asked, glancing momentarily from the map to look at Nakuya's confused expression.

"Well...if you were a merchant, you'd be down at the docks and you said you were on vacation...so I just assumed..." Nakuya paused. "Why _are_ you here, looking at maps?"

Su-Mei looked up from the map and hesitated. She stammered, "Knowledge for knowledge's sake?" She then smiled.

"Right...Fine, don't tell me. But I bet if I knew what you were looking for, I could help." Nakuya turned in her chair away from Su-Mei and the map.

Su-Mei thought for a second and said, "Oh all right," She said, Nakuya spun back around and listened intently. "I'm a treasure hunter."

"Like a pirate?" Nakuya asked.

"NO! I'm not a stupid pirate; I'm a...drifter..." Su-Mei saw the confused expression in Nakuya's face, "Yeah...I'm a pirate." She said.

"Cool! Wait...you're not going to steal anything are you?" Nakuya asked.

"No, I'm not a thief...I'm a treasure hunter..."

"Is there a difference?"

"Ah..." Su-Mei started, "No...no there's not...treasure hunter just sounds better."

Nakuya stared at Su-Mei, wondering if she should trust her. "So you're going to try to hunt some treasure in the wastelands? Is that right?"

"Yes..." Su-Mei responded, looking at the map.

"What's in the wastelands?" Su-Mei was silent, staring intently at the map. "If you want my help, you'll have to trust me, just a little."

"Who said I wanted your help?" Su-Mei asked.

"You're going to walk through the wastelands alone?" Nakuya stared at Su-Mei, a sly smile on her lips. "I have a Buffalo-Yak."

"What's a...Buffalo-Yak?" Su-Mei stared at her.

"Never mind...It can help us get there faster.

"Fine I guess I will need you..." Su-Mei sighed, Keto would kill her if he knew she was getting help from someone. "I have heard rumours that there was a treasure buried in the old catacombs."

"The old catacombs? Wow...No one's been able to find them...people have died trying to..." She looked at Su-Mei, terror and excitement mixed on her face. "Do you think it's smart to risk your life on a rumour?"

Su-Mei thought for a second then said, "Yes, absolutely."

"Ok...well, you're going to need a waterbender..."

"Do you know a Waterbender?"

"I am a Waterbender." She gave her a sly smile.

When Nakuya got off that night, and stepped into the cool night air. Everything was dark. _New Moon..._ Nakuya had almost forgotten. No waterbending tonight. She and Su-Mei had spent almost all day making plans for the morning. They were going to start before sunrise and walk into the wastelands. They had picked a spot where they think the catacombs might be. Nakuya was to take her father's Buffalo-Yak and sleigh, and meet Su-Mei by the wall behind the archives.

Nakuya couldn't wait to go, she was sick of being stuck in the 'waterbending free zone' people called the archives. She was overjoyed that she'd have some human contact for once. And to get her mind off of marriage and settling down would be nice.

Nakuya walked through the dark streets, they were empty. As she walked the silence closed in on her. This wasn't a comforting silence, but an eerie one. Something was wrong. The air felt thick, as if some uninvited presence was looming over her. She looked at the ground, and found what was wrong. Mole bear tracks. They were huge, bigger than her head. There was a mole bear in town. Nakuya hesitated, they were going the same way she was; towards her house.

Without thinking, she ran towards her home, the tracks leading her the whole time. The trek seemed endless, with each step her house seemed to get further and further away. They led right up to her door. She stopped suddenly, inches from the door, what would she find inside? Nakuya caught her breath and opened the door. Everything was fine, completely undisturbed, but the tracks didn't end. They led up the stairs to her bedroom, she followed. When she got to her room they stopped. She looked around her room, and out the window. No sign of a mole bear.

Franticly, she ran up the stairs to her parents room. Empty. She stood there so confused .Where had the mole bear gone? She heard a creaking downstairs, Her heart started beating like a drum, filling her ears with the sound. She slowly walked down the two sets of stairs, and peeked around the corner.

"Nakuya?" Her mother and father stood in the doorway, just home from work.

"Mom, Dad, quiet, there's a mole bear in the house..." Nakuya scanned the room.

"A mole bear? Honey, there's no mole bear..." Her father said. "They're hibernating."

"Yeah there is, look at the tracks." She pointed to the ground. "Where'd they go? There were mole bear tracks here a minute ago!"

"Nakuya, maybe you're working too hard. You should go to sleep." Her mother pushed her up the steps. Nakuya continued to babble about paw prints. "yes honey, I'm sure they were very big. She put her into bed and left the room, "Goodnight"

"I'm sure I saw mole bear tracks..." Nakuya said to herself, she turned towards the window. Maybe it was because the moon had her eye closed. Maybe that's why Nakuya was seeing things. She was just lightheaded. Her eyes grew heavy, and she drifted into sleep.

The snow was glistening in the sunlight. The crunch of her footsteps seemed to echo in the quiet as a small girl slid away from the town. She broke into a run, getting as far away from the town as she possibly could. Her eyes shimmering with tears, she refused to look back. Finally she ran out of stamina, and collapsed onto the snow.

Why did they tease her? She could hear their voices still. _What's wrong with you Nakuya? Girls aren't supposed to Waterbend that well. You think you're the Avatar? The Avatar would never be a GIRL!_ No, Nakuya didn't think she was the Avatar, but people thought she was bragging because she could waterbend better than the boys could. _They're only jealous_ Her father had told her. But the jeers from her mother didn't help, no matter what her father said.

She was teased, rejected, left out, broken, weak. They told her these things, and she believed them. Maybe her mother was right, maybe she wasn't supposed to waterbend...maybe it was some freak accident that she could. She looked up and, slipping her glove off her hand, streamed water from the snow in front of her. She played with it, spun it through the air. Strange warmth moved from somewhere deep inside and stretched along her limb and into her fingertips. It felt so right, like it was meant to be this way, almost as if she was created to Waterbend. She let the water fall back into the snow.

Who cares what the stupid boys said? What does she care if she's the only girl in her class? She's going to be strong; she's not going to let them define her. She's going to define herself. "I'm going to waterbend, and I'm going to be a master, and someday I'll teach others to waterbend, I'm not going to let others tell me what to do. They won't keep me down!" She looked up and saw white flakes falling to the Earth. Big chunks of snow, that fell slowly, and softly. Nakuya stuck out her tongue and caught one; she felt the trickle of water in her mouth as it melted instantly. She giggled; snow looked so magnificent when it fell from the sky. Like little clouds that were coming to meet her, to dance with her. She lifted her face and spread her arms, twirling around, her tongue still out.

Suddenly the wind picked up, and the intricate dance turned into a raging storm. The big chunks of snow flew around Nakuya's face and tangled in her hair. The snow was so thick, that she couldn't see her body, only white, everywhere. Fear gripped her, and she fell to the ground, where was the town?

"HELP!" she called, but the howling wind drowned her out. Her small voice was but a whisper in the storm. On her hands and knees she started to inch forwards, feeling her way, making sure she wasn't about to go off the edge of a cliff or into the water. Her hand fell, but only for a second. There was an indent in the snow. She felt all around it. It was pointed at the top in four places, a paw print? Was there some kind of wild animal out here? She stopped moving and looked around her; white was all she could see.

Then to her right she saw something black moving towards her, in the shape of a moon. She thought that she should be afraid of it, but she grew calm when she saw it. She started to crawl towards it, along the way; she felt the prints in the snow. No matter how far she moved, the black moon was still a far distance ahead of her. She started to move faster, but she couldn't get close enough to touch it, or to see what it really was. She followed it for what felt like hours. Then faster than she could blink, it was gone.

Nakuya stopped abruptly, where did it go? Was she just seeing things? She stood slowly to her feet to try to get a better look. She felt warm air on the back of her neck. _This is it, _she thought, _I'm dead._ The breath continued to warm her neck, she never moved, trying hard not to breathe herself. Then she felt something pointy, a muzzle touch the small of her back. It nudged her ahead a little. She hit a wall. At her touch the wall dissolved. She was staring at the Northern Water Tribe. The muzzle pushed her again, she walked through the hole in the wall, she glanced back, and before the wall became whole again, she saw a bear, with a black ring around his neck. Then he was gone.

Nakuya awoke suddenly, exclaiming, "The Moon Bear!!" she looked out the window, the sun had still not risen; She got out of her bed, and put on her coat and gloves, grabbed her pack and snuck downstairs. When she went outside, the cold morning air clung to every bit of exposed skin Nakuya had. Moving around back, she saw Akiak, She walked toward him, holding out her hand. He wasn't used to being woken so early in the morning. She stroked his nose; he stirred, but didn't make a sound. She hooked Him up to the sled, and led him away from the house. When Nakuya arrived at the archives, instead of going inside, she walked around back. Su-Mei was already there, checking her map.

"What took you so long?" She asked as soon as Nakuya appeared.

"I had a dream..."

"Interesting." Su-Mei interrupted, and put the map in her bag. "Are you ready to go?

"I was born ready." Nakuya responded, Su-Mei put her bag in the sled, and Nakuya melted a hole in the city wall, covering it back up when they were outside it. The sky looked like it was going to be a clear all day. There wasn't a cloud in sight. They walked out into the wastelands. Nakuya reflecting on the last time she ventured away from the comfort of the town. She took a deep breath, and threw her fear away. _You're strong, don't listen to what they say..._She told herself, and she followed after Su-Mei, with Akiak in tow.

THE END

(Of chapter II)


End file.
